SEO

How to Choose a Domain Name

Choosing a domain name is not different from choosing a name for your company; it requires a lot of thought, patience, consideration and creativity. It won't be a lie to say that your domain name is practically your identity on the web and you cannot be lax and careless in its selection. You want to choose a domain name that is short, crisp and defines your business in the most succulent way.
These simple steps would help you find the perfect domain name for your business, because as they say ‘ Well begun is half done'.

1- Easy to type and understand
You should always use a domain name that is easy to type because you don't want yourself and your potential customers to get trapped in the jargon of words. Choosing a name that is easily understandable and identifiable is critical to the success of your business. If you use colloquial language and/or words with multiple spellings, there is a high probability that customers won't be able to find your website.

2- Look for keywords and use them
When you first begin your domain name search, it is important that you brainstorm at least five keywords associated with your brand. Once you have the list, you can start adding prefixes or suffixes to the words in order to come up with the perfect name to describe your business.

3- Add uniqueness to your domain
Do not use a domain name that is similar to a popular website, like a plural, hyphenated or a misspelled version of an already popular website. Google being such a popular website still had to buy all the similar sounding domain names in order to prevent people from getting confused.

4- Keep it short
Your domain name won't be remembered if it is too long and complicated. So the trick is to keep it short and sweet.

5- Avoid numbers and hyphens
Numbers and hyphens are the most misused of characters, because if someone hears your website name that contains numbers he/she would definitely get confused. For example, if your website name contains a numeral 5 a person might make the mistake of typing the spelling ie five. So in order to avoid such situations it is better to altogether avoid numbers and hyphens.

6- Use an appropriate domain name extension
Extensions, as we all know are suffixes such as .com,.org or .net at the end of web addresses. It is extremely important to be choosing your extension wisely and meticulously because the extension along with the domain name defines your business. The .com extension is the most used and the most popular one but it could be difficult to find together with the domain name of your choice because it has been around for so long and has been used by a lot of people over the years.
If you use new generic top level domains such as such as .nyc, .me etc. offer a great opportunity to register short, efficient and relevant names. These are some other top extensions and why and how they are used.

- .co: an abbreviation for company, commerce and community

.info: used for informational and educational websites

– .net: used for technical and internet infrastructure websites

– .org: used for non-commercial and non-profit organizations and associations

– .biz: used for websites that are for business or commercial use such as e-commerce websites

– .me: blogs, resumes or personal websites

7- Protect and build your brand
Once you have decided on your preferred domain name, you should take steps to protect your brand. To protect your brand it is important that you purchase various domain extensions, as well as misplaced versions of your domain name. This would prevent competitors from registering other versions and sabotaging your business.

8- Avoid copyright infringement
It is not a common mistake but if made it has the potential of killing your domain and your business. In order to ensure that you are not infringing on anyone's copyright and registering someone else's domain name as your own visit copyright.gov and search before you buy.

It is not difficult to get a perfect domain name for your business if you act carefully and meticulously.

Courtesy: temok.com

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